Yevgeny Yevtushenko performed within Literature Park Project in the Kazan University garden on July 7.
It’s hardly thinkable that today there is a person who is not acquainted with the works of this outstanding poet. His strong poems “Kazan University”, “Babi Yar”, “Simbirsk Fair”, “Bratsk Station”, “The White Snows” and many others cannot leave people calm, no matter what social status they have and what nation they belong to. Yevgeny Yevtushenko is for a reason believed to be a classic.
Kazan poets, musicians, theatre actors and those, who adore Yevtushenko’s masterpieces, gathered on this sunny day in the garden near KFU. They all were looking forward for the poet to come to the Nuzhin’s monument there and were enjoying a pre-meeting concert.
Finally, two hours later, everybody noticed the figure of Yevgeny Yevtushenko coming from the main building of the University. Bent with age, the poet visibly changed communicating with his admirers. His astonishingly young and light eyes and fervent character made everybody forget about his age. He straightaway asked Kazan natives to read their poems and having listened to them, highly appreciated their work and gave some advice.
The poet touched upon a serious and up-to-date issue of religious and ethnic intolerance, he devoted many of his poems to. He broken-heartedly spoke about the Ukraine. “One must not call the Ukrainians Banderovites, or name Russians invaders. Our ancestors – Ukrainian and Russian- are in the same graves. I have been to 96 countries and haven’t seen any bad nations. There are bad people”, he said.
Speaking about Russia, Yevgeny Yevtushenko noticed, “We should not self-segregate. It is world kind-heartedness, that is our Russian idea.” And to support this, the poet read his “Check the flood”.
At the end, the poet said a warm goodbye and promise to return to Kazan.